Am I the only one who finds it ironic that subby couldn't comprehend the contents of the article? Nobody's changed the standards - in point of fact that's the central tenet of the article. Reading scores have dropped, and so there is a new curriculum designed to raise them.

What I suspect is happening with reading scores is that it's easier than ever to skip the major works by scoping the Internet for the basic plot and some nuggets to make the teacher think the book has been read. It's much harder to do that with non-fiction works, critical essays and things of the sort.

I'm not sure what Common Core is, but a 70/30 mix of non-fiction to fiction is not a terrible thing, in my opinion. The ability to digest complex written ideas is of primary importance. I love literature, and believe that critical genres and authors should be introduced universally by the end of high school, but we have a tendency to over-do many of the genres. I'm also doubtful of its necessity for reading comprehension. For example reading Shakespeare is important, but more than one or two of his works is unnecessary. High school lit should be like tapas. Small servings of a wide variety of genres.

Babwa Wawa:Am I the only one who finds it ironic that subby couldn't comprehend the contents of the article? Nobody's changed the standards - in point of fact that's the central tenet of the article. Reading scores have dropped, and so there is a new curriculum designed to raise them.

What I suspect is happening with reading scores is that it's easier than ever to skip the major works by scoping the Internet for the basic plot and some nuggets to make the teacher think the book has been read. It's much harder to do that with non-fiction works, critical essays and things of the sort.

I'm not sure what Common Core is, but a 70/30 mix of non-fiction to fiction is not a terrible thing, in my opinion. The ability to digest complex written ideas is of primary importance. I love literature, and believe that critical genres and authors should be introduced universally by the end of high school, but we have a tendency to over-do many of the genres. I'm also doubtful of its necessity for reading comprehension. For example reading Shakespeare is important, but more than one or two of his works is unnecessary. High school lit should be like tapas. Small servings of a wide variety of genres.

And people wonder why public education is no longer a sacred cow. They have been failing students on so many levels. It's sad because public education is one of the pillars of. Stable notion nd I can't help but see the connection between our weak public Ed and a faltering nation.

We don't really have a NEED for anything but the basics in our society as a whole. There is not really any solid reason to have above a very basic ability to read, write, or even speak for that matter, as most of the common thoughts and ideas we need to communicate within our society have been distilled down to be recognizable or intelligible to the lowest common denominator.

If people are not challenged to develop and learn and maintain a higher level, why will they retain or teach their own children similar skills or even try to reinforce learning a higher level than they use day to day? Yes, we try to teach it, but what are we doing to make it so that the people USE that knowledge or retain it. Similar to many sciences and mathematics we teach it but many people don't LEARN it because...why remember or retain that knowledge if it is never used except by a small fraction of them?

The College Board makes money by telling Americans that their children will fail at life if they don't buy college board courses and materials. I trust them about as much as I trust Pearson and the other test makers.

We don't really have a NEED for anything but the basics in our society as a whole. There is not really any solid reason to have above a very basic ability to read, write, or even speak for that matter, as most of the common thoughts and ideas we need to communicate within our society have been distilled down to be recognizable or intelligible to the lowest common denominator.

If people are not challenged to develop and learn and maintain a higher level, why will they retain or teach their own children similar skills or even try to reinforce learning a higher level than they use day to day? Yes, we try to teach it, but what are we doing to make it so that the people USE that knowledge or retain it. Similar to many sciences and mathematics we teach it but many people don't LEARN it because...why remember or retain that knowledge if it is never used except by a small fraction of them?

I tend to think that there is some value in getting it in to kids' heads that there are things like science and math out there that have a good idea how the universe works, rather than 'magic' or 'god'. Not from the standpoint of wanting to deny them faith, but rather to help keep politicians and religious leaders in check. I fully acknowledge this has been only marginally successful.

Proteios1:And people wonder why public education is no longer a sacred cow. They have been failing students on so many levels. It's sad because public education is one of the pillars of. Stable notion nd I can't help but see the connection between our weak public Ed and a faltering nation.

Well, we have had half the country continually trying to defund, overtax, and dismantle our public education system because Jebus and 'Merica. So there you go.

Nuclear Monk:I tend to think that there is some value in getting it in to kids' heads that there are things like science and math out there that have a good idea how the universe works, rather than 'magic' or 'god'. Not from the standpoint of wanting to deny them faith, but rather to help keep politicians and religious leaders in check. I fully acknowledge this has been only marginally successful.

True. However when talking about how well a group has learned or can do something, retention and use is more of a key aspect.

By no means do I advocate not exposing, but more I'm of the mind as a society we could do more to make it worthwhile to actually know these things and maintain such knowledge somehow. Not entirely sure HOW but I can dream eh?

Proteios1:And people wonder why public education is no longer a sacred cow. They have been failing students on so many levels. It's sad because public education is one of the pillars of. Stable notion nd I can't help but see the connection between our weak public Ed and a faltering nation.

Parents who think teaching their children is someone else's problem and actively stay out of their kid's education until they get a call from the school are just as much to blame for this.

Proteios1:And people wonder why public education is no longer a sacred cow. They have been failing students on so many levels. It's sad because public education is one of the pillars of. Stable notion nd I can't help but see the connection between our weak public Ed and a faltering nation.

To get students to think deeper about a story, for example, Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, a novel with deceptively simple language, is paired with Malcolm Gladwell's New Yorker piece that alleges it is an elitist story.

Will they also teach kids that Malcolm Gladwell is a douche bag who will say anything so he can get people talking about his latest essay?

The downside, however, is that there is only so much time in a school year, and students can't read everything. Certain compromises, like abridging plays by Shakespeare and other storied authors, have to be made.

In the audio version they talk a bit more how they only read a few chapters from "Julius Caesar." What a joke to call that education.

"So many kids, often as many as 50 percent,graduate high school ... demonstrably not ready for the demands of a first-year college course or job-training program," says David Coleman, president of the College Board, a nonprofit membership organization that administers standardized tests like the SAT.

"To graduate" is a verb, and it can be both transitive and intransitive. A transitive verb takes an object and an intransitive verb doesn't. The school may graduate students (transitive verb) but a student graduates from school (intransitive verb). I can't imagine how the president of the College Board could make this mistake; he sounds illiterate.

RabidJade:Proteios1: And people wonder why public education is no longer a sacred cow. They have been failing students on so many levels. It's sad because public education is one of the pillars of. Stable notion nd I can't help but see the connection between our weak public Ed and a faltering nation.

Parents who think teaching their children is someone else's problem and actively stay out of their kid's education until they get a call from the school are just as much to blame for this.

Of course, parents who do this are labled "helicopter parents" by the school system and other parents. Our culture is so confused right now, and that is by design. If we have really smart kids then the charlatans can't stay in power in religion or politics (I mean Rick Perry is a governor FFS).

You can't sell useless crap if people have critical thinking skills or understand statisitcs.